What Rambam Said: Give a Man a Fish

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; Teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime.

Rabbi Mosheh Ben Maimon

Also called Moses Maimonides and better known as the “Rambam.”

A preeminent medieval Spanish, Sephardic Jewish philosopher in his time, Maimonides was also a well known astronomer, a Sephardic physician of the Middle Ages and one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages.

Born in Cordoba, Medieval Spain on Passover Eve in the year 1135, he passed away on December 13, 1204.

In his commentary on the Mishnah (Tractate Sanhedrin, chapter 10), Maimonides formulates his “Thirteen (13) Principles of Faith.” These principles summarized what he viewed as the required beliefs for Judaism.

Summary of 13 Principles of Faith

I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is the Creator and Guide of everything that has been created; He alone has made, does make, and will make all things.

I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is One, and that there is no unity in any manner like His, and that He alone is our God, who was, and is, and will be.

I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, has no body, and that He is free from all the properties of matter, and that there can be no (physical) comparison to Him whatsoever.

I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is the first and the last.

I believe with perfect faith that to the Creator, Blessed be His Name, and to Him alone, it is right to pray, and that it is not right to pray to any being besides Him.

I believe with perfect faith that all the words of the prophets are true.

I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses our teacher, peace be upon him, was true, and that he was the chief of the prophets, both those who preceded him and those who followed him.

I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that is now in our possession is the same that was given to Moses our teacher, peace be upon him.

I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be exchanged, and that there will never be any other Torah from the Creator, Blessed be His Name.

I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, knows all the deeds of human beings and all their thoughts, as it is written, “Who fashioned the hearts of them all, Who comprehends all their actions” (Psalms 33:15).

I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, rewards those who keep His commandments and punishes those that transgress them.

I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah; and even though he may tarry, nonetheless, I wait every day for his coming.

I believe with perfect faith that there will be a revival of the dead at the time when it shall please the Creator, Blessed be His name, and His mention shall be exalted for ever and ever. — Maimonides [See Birnbaum at p. 157]